A new shipping alliance connecting East Coast ports with Asia will make stops in Jacksonville, starting in May.

The G6 Alliance will encompass 50 ships serving 30 ports while making six "loops" from Asia to the East Coast and back again.

Roy Schleicher, interim CEO of JaxPort, said the alliance will let Jacksonville compete for cargo from customers of the six shipping lines that form the alliance -- APL, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Nippon Yusen Kaisha, and Orient Overseas Container Line.

"It gives us more opportunities," he said.

Of the six "loops" that G6 Alliance ships will operate on, Jacksonville will be a stop on two of the loops, Savannah, Ga., will be a stop on five loops, and Charleston, S.C. will be a stop on three loops.